Movies

The Trippy Experience of Watching the Fantastic Four Birth Scene While Pregnant

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From the title “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” it was clear that Marvel’s new superhero film would present Sue Storm, a pregnant superhero, and her journey to give birth to Franklin Richards, her super-baby. However, I was not prepared for an exploration of the worries and challenges associated with pregnancy and parenting during my eight months pregnant viewing. Moreover, I never imagined (warning: spoilers) that the film would include a zero-gravity birth scene, which eerily resembled my fear of labor in a speeding taxi on the way to the hospital.

Initially, the movie sets a tone filled with parental concerns right from its start. In the early moments, Sue (Vanessa Kirby) conducts a pregnancy test, revealing the result to her spouse, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal). His reaction is a mix of surprise and despair, considering their long-standing struggle to conceive. However, his emotions quickly shift to joy, only for doubts to creep in. As it turns out, Sue, Reed, Sue’s brother Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and their friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) had been exposed to cosmic radiation during a space voyage. This exposure altered their DNA, bestowing them with extraordinary abilities. But the question arises: might this transformation affect their unborn child in any way? Will everything be alright?

In simpler terms, Sue helps ease Reed’s worrying nature, but his habit of overthinking is something many can relate to – be it facing difficulties in conceiving, receiving a troubling prenatal diagnosis, or, as I have, experiencing a miscarriage. I understand all too well the rollercoaster ride of excitement and fear when a positive pregnancy test appears, a happiness that, after loss, seems unreliable. Reed constantly conducts tests on Sue and the unborn child, even constructing his own equipment for this purpose. It’s hard to tell if these actions calm his fears or make them worse, much like advanced baby monitors that track breathing overnight – they can cause anxiety when they malfunction or lose connection. At the same time, Sue continually assures him, “nothing is going to change,” a belief often held by expectant parents that may be unrealistic.

In the movie, Reed and Sue frequently clash over Reed’s tendency to anticipate the worst-case scenarios in every situation, even when it comes to their child’s health and safety. Reed defends his actions as a means of preparation, while Sue’s constant optimism seems unrealistic to the point that viewers are left expecting an actual disaster to disrupt her complacency. This dynamic is reminiscent of many couples who have differing views on the extent of prenatal testing or parental preparations for challenges in pregnancy and parenthood.

In the end, it turns out that Reed’s concerns weren’t unfounded at all. The main antagonist of the movie, a colossal planet-devourer named Galactus, decides to mark Earth as his next meal. In an unexpected twist reminiscent of Rumpelstiltskin, Galactus proposes sparing Earth if Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and Sue Storm (Invisible Woman) are willing to give him their unborn child. Galactus is drawn to some cosmic power in the baby and wishes to train him as his apprentice. However, Sue and Reed decline this proposal, but not for long as Sue suddenly goes into labor. They hastily return to their spaceship, with the Silver Surfer (a radiant Julia Turner) chasing after them.

As a passionate film enthusiast, let me put it this way: The upcoming birth scene isn’t something I’d casually rewind for a quick watch before my own delivery. In this narrative, Sue experiences labor pains in a zero-gravity setting aboard a ship. At one point during her ordeal, the Silver Surfer manages to touch or even penetrate Sue Storm’s abdomen—a violation that is hard to fathom, given the constraints of his powers. Caught in the throes of labor, Sue pleads with her brother Johnny to terminate the Silver Surfer, as she believes he’s attempting to harm her unborn nephew. Understandably so! Meanwhile, Sue utilizes her powers to make the ship invisible during her contractions to conceal it from our adversaries.

Johnny attempts to gun down the Silver Surfer; Reed restrains Sue onto a table to help her use gravity for pushing; Ben stands by ready to catch the baby; and their trusty robot companion Herbie pilots the vessel.

In simpler terms, watching this scene in the movie felt like experiencing childbirth inside a self-driving car (Waymo), with your husband coaching, your brother fighting off an attacker trying to harm your unborn child, and a friend observing as your baby is born. To make things more challenging, you had to do intense pilates exercises between contractions. This is something you’d rather only witness if the people around you were in scrubs (medical professionals).

In my experience, I’ve never encountered a scene of a baby being born in a Marvel film, not even one delivered in space. To be honest, only a few instances of births in space come to mind initially, such as the disturbing ones depicted in different Alien movies. Fortunately, this particular space birth has a more positive outcome compared to the forced C-section scene from Prometheus where Noomi Rapace’s character had to remove an alien herself.

In a recent reflection, I’ve come across an interesting topic that I had previously explored when interviewing the talented James Cameron. One of our discussions revolved around the representation of pregnancy and female strength in his work, specifically in Avatar: The Way of Water where Kate Winslet’s character, a pregnant Na’vi, engages in battle. This depiction, while empowering, raised questions about realism.

Cameron expressed a thought-provoking perspective, stating that pregnancy is often viewed as a limitation rather than a natural phase of human life. He suggested that women have been delivering babies under challenging circumstances for centuries, capable of handling immediate threats like attacking saber-toothed tigers. However, as I experienced when giving birth myself not long after our conversation, the reality is far from this portrayal.

Despite delivering my baby relatively smoothly, I faced complications such as blood loss, vomiting, and a need for immediate medication postpartum. Needless to say, I was not prepared to confront a saber-toothed tiger in those moments. Cameron’s words have stayed with me, urging people to educate themselves about the true nature of childbirth and its complexities.

It’s interesting to note that all the screenwriters credited for the movie “Fantastic Four: First Steps” are men, just like those who wrote movies such as “Rosemary’s Baby”, “Knocked Up”, and “Children of Men”. Although I appreciate their appreciation for a woman’s strength during childbirth, I wonder if they truly understand the multitasking and immense energy required in labor. If they had experienced it firsthand, their portrayal might be more realistic, perhaps less fantastical.

After Reed and Sue’s child is born, the focus shifts to speculation about whether the baby possesses superpowers and the threat of kidnapping if he does. You wouldn’t expect Galactus to give up on nurturing another planet-destroying entity so easily, would you? I wasn’t particularly fond of it either, mainly because The Incredibles had already done it, and arguably better, with baby Jack Jack. However, it seems that endangered children have become a recurring theme in superhero stories: Superman, for instance, includes a scene where the character played by David Corenswet cradles an alien infant amidst a stream of death defying time-travel. Similarly, in Thunderbolts*, also known as The New Avengers, David Harbour’s Red Guardian saves a young girl, only for her to vanish into darkness moments later. In each instance, I knew the children were not in real danger, but I questioned why I was subjected to the distress of watching defenseless infants in peril.

*Note: Thunderbolts is an alternate title for The New Avengers.

It seems like The Fantastic Four is breaking fresh ground within a genre that’s starting to feel stale, as it explores themes related to pregnancy and early parenthood in an engaging manner, even though the situation is amplified due to its superhero setting. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe yearning for innovative concepts, focusing on family and parenthood stands out. Matt Shakman, director of First Steps, who also worked on the acclaimed parent-focused series WandaVision on Disney+, is responsible for this fresh approach. In both productions, Elizabeth Olsen’s character (Wanda Maximoff) demonstrates extraordinary efforts to create and safeguard new life, using magic in WandaVision, and grappling with the balance of control as a parent. Unfortunately, some of the emotional depth established in WandaVision was overshadowed by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which unfortunately portrayed Wanda as an overly dramatic and stereotypical aggressive mother figure.

Watching a movie during pregnancy might pose risks. For instance, an editor had a chilling experience watching “Hereditary” while pregnant, which left her haunted by images of a tormented fetus. Another friend was uneasy watching the telepathic fetus in “Dune Part 2,” as she herself was carrying a baby. I must say, director Shakman’s approach to labor is commendable, especially considering it’s rarely explored in mainstream cinema. However, if you’re pregnant and have a sensitive stomach, it might be wise to wait and watch this birth scene after giving birth.

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2025-07-25 18:06

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